Former mayor and city councillor, Charles Pender, believes his record of leadership combined with a vision for a sustainable and growing city makes him the best candidate to lead Corner Brook forward over the next four years.

Pender will try to reclaim the mayor's seat in the upcoming municipal election.

Pender says during his time as mayor, he sought new opportunities to promote Corner Brook and developed a 10-year plan to move the city forward.

"The refurbishment of Margaret Bowater Park, Captain Cook's Monument, and Bartlett's Point along with new children's playgrounds, walking and bike trails and the Wellington Street Soccer Complex are just some examples of the positive impact this strategy has had on our city," said Pender in a prepared release. "As mayor, I was able to work with the provincial and federal governments to access funding to pay the majority of the costs on all of these projects and more."

Pender also cites the new Corner Brook City Hall project and the city's new water treatment plant as examples where he was able to take advantage of unique funding arrangements to keep costs to city taxpayers as low as possible.

Comments

Recent comments

Charles, i hope you,re not taking credit for all the work you mentioned. The work at 'BARTLET,S" POINT, CORNER BROOK TRAILS, CAPT. COOKS MONUMENT HILL, & AT MARGARET BOWATER PARK was done by the fantastic workers of corner brook stream trails & not the city or it,s workers with money not from city. Please , please correct this statement as it seems you are really politicking here & we certainly don,t need this especially just before the election. You may have had some say in the work but come on my friend.

I believe what Mr. Pender is saying is that it was all part of a larger plan. All of these areas are on city owned land and were paid through agreements with the provincial and federal governments. I believe there was also some private money that helped to pay for the Captain Cook Statue itself.
Corner Brook Stream did a fantastic job doing the work as they always do, but they were acting under contract to the city using city.
Without a plan and funding arrangements led by Mayor Pender and his council, these projects would never have taken place.
One thing is for sure, they certainly have helped improve our city and that is what counts, so I say hats off to all involved for a job very well done.

Time For a Change

August 27, 2013 - 08:40

Say what you want, Pender has demonstrated that he can get things done. Just look at all the projects that he got developped with money from the province and feds. More than anyone before or since I would think.
The current council has absolutely nothing to show for itself over the last four years expect higher salaries, lavish travel expenses and and a couiple of hens.
Not one single project was started by them, they just took what Pender started, took the money he raised and then tried to take credit for his work.
Donna Francis was part of that same council for the last four years and never opened her mouth, except to say yes to the pay raises, blackberry and iPad....now she want to lead this city - I think not!
I don't even know Pender, but I do know that I am voting for him as the best choice to get this city moving again.

Very happy to see Pender enter the race for Mayor again. Pender was doing a lot of great work to move this city forward - those who want a brighter future for the city would do well to vote him back in - he knows how to get things done!

" a vision for a sustainable and growing city". Sorry to wake you Spender Pender but a vision while you're sleeping is called a dream. Under your watch the city declined and the current group successfully continued that trend. The curbside recycling program may have been a failure but the recycling of failed politicians seems to be in full swing.

if i had to chhose right now i would vote for charles over francis but i dont remember the former mayor speaking up when grenfell never got what it was promised or the ongoing saga around the new hospital.we need someone who is going to go after the pc government about how the west coast is treated like second class.look at how many jobs were lost the last few months and not a word from city hall.i dont think mr pender will say to much as i believe he is a pc supporter.

With the provincial and federal governments holding tightly on their purse strings, its highly unlikely that the success Charles had in getting things built will replicate. While I personally don't use my ballot to remove someone from office, many people have this mentality of 'anyone but current'. Now that a current councillor and a former mayor has jumped in the race, a person voted out so we could get Greeley, things just got a little interesting. But until Charles can perhaps mention a path for the future as opposed to the accomplishments of the past, Ill reserve judgment. I do feel experience does count for something in City Hall, just as it does in business. But wasnt there allegations of council muzzling back in those days?

Well now isn't this interesting. Seems like the entire gang from 2005 is back. Bunch of old farts so power hungry that they will do anything they can to keep it. Pender was at the right place at the right time under Danny. He has the leadership skills of a wombat. Be very careful Corner Brook you may actually get what you want. Remember Pender's Palace.

I am happy to hear that Charles is running for the mayor's position. He will bring to Council progressive and intelligent leadership and he will do so with integrity and a sincere commitment to the general public and the community.
As a former mayor his accomplishments were many. I am confident that he will continue to contribute to moving Corner Brook forward in a positive way.
He has my support!

Okay Charles. I heard all that before. We got lots of recreational facility infrastructure. Our neighborhoods. require serious improvements. Forty year old streets and curbs are broken and beyond band aid repairs in most cases. Everything can't be about the downtown. The current allocation for funding into ithe neighborhood improvements is not enough. It is now time for our elected politicians to pay more attention to our neighborhood issues. What is your stand on neighborhood. Infrastructure Improvements? WE NEED ACTION NOW.. I want to hear more from you on the issues before I make my vote. As far as I am concerned I will not vote anyone in based on popularity or otherwise... Our local politicians have to perform and seen to perform.... That's it....

Let's not forget about Mr Pender's push for that lavish City Hall that did and still does cost taxpayers far more than it should. Mr Pender was also behind the silly rotating garbage schedule and the 4 bag min without paying for stickers. Granted, his decision making process is far better than our current mayor but he's no Dave Luther.

Our beautiful City Hall is a source of great pride. Unfortunately, quality comes with a price tag. Our previous city hall building was a distinct embarrassment, not to mention unsafe and uncomfortable for city employees. I am delighted that, under Mr. Pender's leadership, out beautiful and functional city hall became a reality.

Time For a Change

August 28, 2013 - 20:20

Hmmmmm, 2000 new members at Library, Remembrance Square restored to a place of honour, CB Museum back on track, a space for the Arts in the heart of downtown and all for a measly $ 200 000 or less after the contributions from the province and fedsâ€¦pretty darn good I say. Time for people to look at the facts and celebrate this great accomplishment.
By the way - Rotating Garbage schedule was in place long before Pender as was the 4 bag limit.
Oh, and Mayor only gets one vote by the wayâ€¦he can't do anything without the rest of council agreeing â€¦but you probably already knew that of course.

Citizen

August 26, 2013 - 07:34

I will definitely vote for Charles Pender. Under his leadership, our city enjoyed enormous growth. IN my humble opinion, Mr. Pender is intelligent, visionary, proactive, and progressive. Where can I get my lawn sign?

A lot of people were critical of Mr. Pender's time in office, but the track record speaks for itself. All of the improvements we see happening around the city right now were formulated during his time as Mayor and the council during that time. I certainly think he has been away from the big seat long enough to see the mistakes that have been made in the last four years; and he is wise enough to not continue down that path. While I am not endorsing Mr. Pender directly (yet), as I am waiting to see what other candidates may pop up he is currently the best option.

Whether a leopard does nor does not changes its spots is irrelevant. Mr. Pender is an intelligent man who has brought much to our city. People seem to think that improvements can be achieved without spending a nickle. I hope that people in Corner Brook DO remember what tremendous growth we experienced under Mr. Pender's leadership. Somehow, people seem to think that improvements in infrastructure as well as new endeavours can be had without costing any money. It does not work that way.

david

August 26, 2013 - 07:09

Spinning the City Hall palace larceny as a deft cost savings for taxpayers' benefit is the kind of arrogant, oblivious self-absorption that got the guy tossed....he still doesn't get it, and never will.

Since Charles Pender also has a poor reputation, including a time when a Corner Brook resident was ticketed for using a snow blower in 2009 and giving this city a national "black eye", this was done during the Pender era, coupled with an inability to attract new employers in the city, his chances of returning as Mayor are not good either.
If Pender wants to get elected as Mayor, he will have to prove that he learned from his mistakes during his tenure.
Otherwise, Pender won't get the people's votes either.